Foot control valve for dental machine



Nov. 4, 1969 M. G. ROLAND 3,476,153

FOOT CONTROL VALVE FOR DENTAL MACHINE Filed Aug. 14, 1967 I NV E NTOR 22%;)! GROLA/VD.

r 3,476,153 FOOT CONTROL VALVE FOR DENTAL MACHINE Max G. Roland, Redwood City, Calif., assignor to Roland Mfg. Co., Burlingame, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Aug. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 660,524 Int. Cl. F16k 11/14 U.s. Cl. 137-6361 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates particularly to foot-operated valve means for the control of a dental machine havmg a plurality of air drills and a syringe operated from sources .of air and water under pressure by which the volume of air and the control of other associated devices of the machine are controlled pneumatically in a novel manner solely'by the foot of the dentist or operator.

I My present invention relates to dental machines and air volume-control valve for dental air drills by which the flow of air and consequently the speed of the drill is at all times under the control of the operator or dentist when in either a standing or sitting position.

Other objects and advantages will be in part evident to those skilled in the art and in part pointed out hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawing,

showing by way of illustration and not of limitation a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the foot control device as a unit with aportion broken away to reveal the air volume control valve and its operating means,

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the air volume control valve in its inoperative off-position,

' FIGURE 3 the view similar to FIG. 2 showing the valve in its fully open operative-position,

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along line '44 of FIG. 1 looking in direction of arrows, and i FIGURE 5 is an auxiliary control valve for the mouth washing syringe or the dental machine.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawing for a general description of the invention with later reference to other figures of the drawing for details of construction. The foot control assembly is mounted upon a foundation plate that is preferably of steel in order to provide the required stabilizing weight for the device which when in use will rest freely upon the floor of a dental office so that it canbemoved around from one to the other side of the dentists chair. Superimposed over the foundation plate 10 there is a housing or cover 11 having serrations 12 to provide an antislipping surface for the foot of an operator. The housing 11 is of a depth to accommodate an air flow controlling valve 13 having a hose accommodating inlet nipple 14 through which air is conducted from a source of air under pres- 7 sure to the valve and an outlet nipple 15 for a hose connection as an outlet for air passing through valve 13 to an operating drill. A third nipple 16 through which air under certain conditions of operation is shown for directing air to a syringe water control valve not shown.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the valve 13 has an open cylindrical cavity 17 within which there is positioned a United States Pa piston-like valve member 18. This piston-like valve member 18 has a laterally extending operating pin 19 that is adapted and arranged to move freely in a slot 20 at one side of the cylindrical cavity 17. The projecting pin 19 as shown in FIG. 1 is biased into a valve closed position by a tension spring 21 disposed between it and a stationary pin at the other extreme end of the valve member 13. Engaging the pin 19 there is a lever arm 23 that is pivotally mounted at one end as at the point 24 with an upstanding portion 25 at its other or free end for engagement with the projecting pin 19 when the assembly is completed. Intermediate the ends of the lever arm 23 there is a cam roller 26 that is shown as engaging with oppositely disposed camming surfaces 27 and 28 at the end of a second lever 29 which is pivotally mounted on a central support 30. At its free end the lever arm 29 projects outwardly beyond the cover plate 11 where it has an upstanding operating button 31 which is adapted and arranged to be engaged by the toe or other portion of an operators shoe when the device is in use. This lever, as noted by arrows, will move about its pivot 30 either clockwise or counterclockwise as indicated by dot and dash lines. At this point it will be noted that the camming surfaces 27 and 28 are identical in configuration so that, irrespective of the direction in which the lever arm is moved, the resulting movement of the lever arm'23 will be the same and therefore the valve will operate to control the air flow in a corresponding manner. As an adjunct the lever arm 29 is shown as having an additional camming surface 32 which is here shown as engaged by a plunger 33 of a normally open air controlling valve 34. With this arrangement the normally open valve 34 will be held, as shown, in a closed position by the camming surface 32 as the lever arm 29 is moved clockwise about its pivot point 30. When the lever arm 29 is moved counterclockwise from the position here shown the camming surface 32 will become disengaged from the plunger 33 and permit the normally open air valve 34 to open. The purpose of this auxiliary valve 34 is to control the flow of air from the input nozzle 14 of the control valve 13 and through the tubular connections 35 and 36 to the nipple 16 said, not shown, water controlling valve.

With the arrangement described up to this point, it will be seen that the air flow control valve 13 and the auxiliary valve 34 will be under the control of the operating lever arm 29 when moved in its clockwise direction and free to open when the lever arm 29 is moved counterclockwise by the engagement of the foot of an operator with the nob 31 at its projecting end as shown in FIG. 4.

A further and important feature of my invention not pointed out hereinabove is the fact that the piston-like valve member 18, as disposed with respect to the air inlet and outlet ports connecting with the nipples 14 and 15, has two spaced O-rings 37 and 38 located to block the air inlet port when the valve member 18. is in the position as shown in FIG. 2 and open the air inlet port when it the position as shown in FIG, 3 of the drawing. In addition to the O-rings 37 and 48 the valve member 18 carries a third O-ring 39 that operates to seal the valve member 18 within the cylindrical cavity 17. Between the O-rings 38 and 39 the piston-like valve member 18 has a reduced portion 40 with a tapering portion which, together with a single surrounding spirally disposed fin 41, provides an air passageway of increasing capacity as the valve member 18 is moved to the left as here viewed. This movement of the valve member 18 under the control of the operator by the operation of the cam control lever arm 23 may be of such a degree as to progressively permit an increasing flow of air through the valve to the outlet port of the nipple 15. As a result the speed of the air drill with which the valve 18 is associated can be controlled by the amount of movement imparted to the valve member 18 through the foot-operated lever 29.

The auxiliary air valve 34 as shown in FIG. 1, as connected by conduits 35 and 36 to the main flow controlling valve 13 has a cylindrical cavity 42 in which there is disposed a piston-like plunger 43 that is biased into an open position by a spring 44 disposed between its outer end and the body of the valve 34. The plunger 43 is limited in its movements by a small pin 45 adjacent the plunger 43 at a point where the latter is reduced in diameter. The plunger 43 also has a second reduced portion 46 with O-rings 47 and 48 so disposed upon the plunger with respect to inlet and outlet ports 49 and 50 that when the valve 34 is in the position shown in FIG. 1 it will be closed against the flow of air through the conduits 35 and 36, Due to limited space the body of the air valve 34 is provided with notches at its ends through which securing screws 51 extend for securing it upon the foundation plate as shown in FIG. 1.

It is believed the operation of my foot operated air volume controlling device as described above will be clearly understood. It should be stated that when in operation there will :'be connections leading from a source of air under pressure to the air inlet nipple 14 and with a further connection between the nipple and one or more air operated drills as noW employed by most dentists. A third connection under the control of the auxiliary valve 34 will be from the nipple 16 through passageways 52 and 53 formed in the body of the valve 18 and to the aforementioned, but not shown, syringe water controlling valve.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A foot operated air fiow regulating device for dental machines of the type employing air operated drills, comprising a supporting base having an overlying cover as a support for the foot of an operator, an air flow controlling valve body upon said supporting base having a cylindrical bore with inlet and outlet ports for directing air under pressure from a source of supply to a dental drill, a reciprocating piston-like valve member operating within said cylindrical bore biased into a normally closed position, an operating pin carried by said valve member and projecting from said valve body, a first lever arm pivotally mounted upon said supporting base with its free end in engagement with said projecting pin, a second lever arm pivotally mounted upon said base and extending normally at a right angle to said first lever arm having oppositely disposed corresponding camming surfaces, a cam engaging roller mounted intermediate the ends of said first lever arm in engagement with the opposed camming surfaces of said second lever arm, said second lever arm being extended beyond said cover portion for engagement with the foot of an operator, whereby said valve member may be operated in equal degree to open the valve irrespective of the direction in which said second lever is moved by the foot of an operator.

2. A foot operated air flow controlling device for dental machines of the type employing air operated drills,

comprising a supporting base having an overlying cover 0 as a support for the foot of an operator, a valve body mounted upon said supporting base having a cylindrical bore with inlet and outlet ports for directing air under pressure from a source of supply to a dental drill, a reciprocating piston-like valve member operating within said cylindrical bore, spring means for biasing said valve member into a normally closed position, an operating pin carried by said valve member for moving said valve member against its bias and projecting from said valve body, a first lever arm pivotally mounted upon said supporting base with its free end in engagement with said projecting pin, a second lever pivotally mounted upon said base and extending normally at a right angle to said lever arm having oppositely extending camming surfaces at one end, and a cam engaging roller mounted intermediate the ends of said first lever arm in engagement with the camming surfaces of said second lever, said second lever being extended beyond said cover portion at its other end for engagement with the foot of an operator, whereby said valve member will be moved in equal degree irrespective of the direction in which said second lever is moved by the foot of an operator.

3. A foot operated air flow controlling device for dental machines of the type employing air operated drills, comprising a supporting base having an overlying cover as a support for the foot of an operator, and a valve body mounted upon said supporting base having a cylindrical bore with inlet and outlet ports for directing air under pressure from a source of supply to a dental drill, as set forth in claim 2 characterized by the fact that said base carries a normally open air valve connected between the inlet port of said valve body and an additional outlet port with a nipple for connection with a syringe water controlling valve and in which said second lever has a third camming surface for maintaining said air controlling valve in a closed position when said second lever is operated in one direction and permit said auxiliary valve to open when said second lever is operated in a reverse direction, whereby said syringe water control valve will be opened to supply water for the drill when said second lever is operated in one direction by the foot of an operator.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,055,117 3/1913 Woodworth 251295 X 2,656,144 10/1953 Frantz 251-324 X 2,739,607 3/1956 Murray 251-126 X 2,854,998 10/1958 MacGlashan 251--324 X 2,995,337 8/1961 Tanner 251-324 X 3,192,952 7/1965 Botnick 251324 X 3,242,572 3/1966 Staunt 251-295 X 3,296,698 1/1967 Staunt 137-6361 X 3,359,638 12/1967 Maurer 137-636.1 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 426,479 4/1935 Great Britain.

CLARENCE R. GORDON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

